March 18, 2011

St. Patty's Day Partay

Tonight we had a belated birthday/belated St. Patrick's Day party. Yes, two exciting celebrations all rolled up in one. Actually it was hubby's 3rd party this week so he wasn't too sad about sharing the spotlight with Pat. Mother-in-law made the main dish and main sides and I added a few things to the table. I decided to try to make a couple sort of Irishy things that I found on allrecipes.com. I will show them off in order of authenticity.

First of all is the Irish Soda Bread. I learned from reading the reviews that it's quite authentic. I wouldn't know any difference since I'd never made it or even eaten it. It turned out wonderful! It's kind of like a giant scone, kind of crumbly and buttery and only slightly sweet. I loved it and it was fun to make. Except for the part where I was cutting up the dried apricots with some sharp kitchen shears and cut the very tip of my finger off instead. Yeah, don't do that. Anyway, mine varied from the original just a bit, I didn't add caraway seeds and I used raisins and said apricots, no currants. And I plumped up the dried fruit by soaking in hot water for about 30 minutes before adding it to the rest, I think that makes a big difference, not so chewy. Here it is-

Next up is some Fried Cabbage. Fried cabbage was listed on Allrecipe's "St. Patrick's Day Food" list though more searching led me to this recipe which stated it was more of a southern US traditional food. So, we'll just pretend it's kinda Irish. This cabbage was seriously so good. I've never made it like this before, but I'll definitely be making it again and when I do, I'll cut the bacon down, or maybe just remove more of the grease from the pan before cooking the vegetables since it was pretty greasy. Here it is so pretty and colorful-

Lastly is my Pistachio Pudding Cake. I pretty much just wanted to make a green dessert and I had some cake mix on hand so this fit the bill. It was very good, though I have a feeling it will be even better tomorrow, it's the kind of cake that gets moister and better the next day. I didn't get a pic of the inside but it was a very nice green color and check out the professional icing job (not really my specialty)

So, not the healthiest party food but it could've been worse. It was a nice meal with family, the kind we need to do more often.